Nightmares
by vahanian
Summary: When Alan starts having nightmares following the Hood's attack, it leads to something even worse. Can his family help him in time.


Disclaimer: Don't own the Thunderbirds.

Also all my knowledge of the Thunderbirds comes from the film. This story goes between Alan and Scott's POV.

**Chapter One.**

Alan Tracy woke with a start. He turned his head slightly so that he could see his alarm clock. The numbers on it read seven thirty. Sighing loudly, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He shivered slightly as his feet came into contact with the chilly floor. He had only been asleep for about forty minutes. Every time he had shut his eyes or had tried to go to sleep, images and nightmares of the Hood's attack woke him up.

It had been a week since the incident with the Hood and Alan could count the amount of hours he had been asleep on one hand. After the first sleepless night, Alan had snuck into the infirmary and had taken two sleeping pills from the medicine cabinet without telling anyone. He had taken both immediately with a glass of water, and he hadn't woken up until midday the following morning. When he went back to get two more the following night, he found that Virgil had activated the lock on the door, one that required your thumb print to open it. When Virgil had caught him trying to open it, he had lied and said that he had wanted a paracetamol for a headache. After he had taken two, Alan quickly left the infirmary, Virgil's suspious look following him as he went.

Deciding that a shower might wake him up, he walked towards his bathroom. Twenty minutes later, feeling somewhat more alert, Alan shut his door silently behind him and walked quietly down the corridor, so as not to disturb Scott and John, whose rooms were next to his. He padded softly into the kitchen and went to the coffee machine. He filled it up and pushed the button. As he waited for the water to boil, his mind went over his previous nightmare. It had been the same one now for every night this week. He hadn't been able to save his brothers or his father on Thunderbird five, and they had all died.

The toll of so many sleepless nights were beginning to show. Not wanting to worry his father or brothers, Alan had started to consume four to five cups of coffee a day in secret. He was sure that if his dad or heaven forbid, Scott found out, he would be in the infirmary with Virgil poking and prodding him before he could say, "I'm fine".

Brought out of his thoughts by the coffee machine beeping, Alan walked over to the cupboard and reached up to get a mug.

"Morning sprout." Said a cheerful voice from behind him.

Alan yelped in surprise, which caused him to drop the mug he was holding. It shattered on the countertop, causing the shards to fall onto his unprotected feet. A sharp pain flared up and he looked down. A piece of the mug had embedded itself into his foot.

"Woah Allie. Are you alright?" said his older brother Scott in concern as he strode towards him.

"Bit jumpy this morning are we?" Gordon cheekily asked from his position by the door.

"Here sit down on the stool" said Scott pushing him back slowly, " Gordon get the first aid kit." He said glancing over his shoulder. "What happened?" said Scott, his blue eyes searching Alan's face.

"Nothing, you just startled me. I didn't realise that anyone was up yet." Said Alan. He glanced down at the floor, refusing to meet his older brother's gaze. The adrenaline surge that he had gotten had given him a much needed boost, but he still felt and looked tired, and he knew that if Scott asked, he would crumble and tell him everything. It wasn't that he didn't trust his family, it was that he wanted them to see his grown up and able to look after himself. In the days that had followed the Hood's attack, his brothers had all found excuses to be with him 24/7, so that he was never left alone. He was sure that they were reluctant to let him out of their sights, just in case anything else happened to him.

Scott, slowly reaching out, placed his two fingers under Alan's chin and tilted his head up until Alan was looking at him.

"Are you sure?" asked Scott.

"Yeah, I'm sure Scotty." Said Alan as Gordon came back into the kitchen, Virgil following closely behind.

"What happened?" asked Virgil as he knelt down in front of Alan to inspect his foot.

"Alan dropped his mug and a piece of it is stuck in his foot." Said Scott as he stood up, allowing Virgil room to work. Scott opened the first aid kit and passed the tweezers and a bandage to Virgil.

After about three minutes Virgil sat back on his heels. "I pulled the shard out and cleaned the wound, I bandaged it as well, just in case, but I think you'll live." He finished cheerfully as he stood up.

"What happened?" asked a voice from the doorway and the brothers all turned to see their father and John walking into the kitchen.

"Scott scared Alan, Alan screamed like a big girl and dropped his mug on his foot." Said Gordon happily.

Jeff walked over to his youngest son and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright Alan?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah Scott just startled me, that's all." Said Alan as he got up from the stool.

"Let's get some breakfast then." Said Jeff looking like he wanted to argue the point, but deciding to let it go for the moment.

After everyone had gotten something to eat, the conversation around the table turned to what everyone was doing that day. Alan's mind started to wander as the conversation turned to what parts were still needed to be ordered for Thunderbird five. As he rested his head on his hand, his thoughts turned to how differently this scene might have been if the Hood had succeeded. His family wouldn't have been here for one thing, and Alan would have either been sent to someone to look after as an orphan or he would have been dead.

"Alan! Alan? Are you listening?" asked Gordon loudly to his right.

"Huh, what?" asked Alan as he glanced around the table, trying to ignore the concerned looks that he was getting.

"Are you alright?" Asked Jeff, repeating his question from earlier.

"Yeah, Dad I was just thinking." said Alan.

"I thought that you looked like you were in pain." quipped Gordon.

"I said that Will should get here at about five this afternoon, so you can do what you want until then." said his Dad with a smile.

Alan felt himself returning the smile as he thought about Commander William James, his Dad's best friend from his time aboard the NASA space station. A friendship that had lasted even when they had both left, Jeff to start a family and Will to a new job with the army. After the events with the Hood, Will was coming to the Island to see for himself that they were all alright.

Scott caught himself studying Alan's face closely as he silently mused to himself. '_Dammint, the kid looks exhausted. I wonder if he's sleeping okay. He was up early this morning, and he was pretty jumpy. I wonder if John has noticed anything'._ Scott looked towards John and saw that he was watching Alan closely as well.

Alan slowly got up from the table, still feeling tired as he was unable to have his usual two cups of coffee this morning due to Scott scaring him. He jumped slightly when John began to speak, "Hey Allie, want to come outside and play water volleyball with us?" he asked.

"Sure." Said Alan, hoping that if he tired himself out, that maybe he would sleep better tonight.

**Chapter two.**

Alan jumped up high in the air as the ball came hurdling towards him. What had started out as a volleyball game soon turned into 'let's throw the ball at someone and then tackle him' game. It was Alan and Gordon against Scott, John and Virgil, and so far the youngest two were winning. Alan threw the ball as hard as he could towards Gordon before Virgil and John were on him, dragging him down under the water. Realising that he no longer had the ball, they let him up. Alan watched as Gordon threw the ball between the makeshift goal posts that they had set up.

"Goal" Shouted Gordon happily. "I do believe that's the game." He said as he swam around his three older brothers on his back in a circle.

"It's just luck." Said Scott as he reached forward and dunked Gordon's head under the water.

"You always say that, yet me and Gordon always manage to beat you every time." Said Alan as Gordon came up spluttering.

"We were just letting you win cos we feel sorry for you." Said John with a smirk as he climbed out of the pool.

"Yeah whatever space case." Said Gordon flicking water at John, as he climbed out of the pool as well.

Alan laughed quietly as he climbed out of the pool and made his way over to the chair where he had left his towel.

"Boys, lunch." Shouted his father from inside the house.

As Alan turned towards the house, a wave of fatigue washed over him, which caused him to stumble a few feet to the side. The sudden acceleration in movement caused his foot to slip out from under him and he toppled sideways. He barely had time to register that he was falling into the pool before he hit his head on the wall and he slipped under the water.

**Scott's pov. **

Scott chuckled loudly as Gordon splashed John with water. He knew that neither brother was angry with each other. He heard his father shout that lunch was ready from inside. Starting towards the house, he stopped when he heard a clattering behind him. He turned around just in time to see his youngest brother slip into the pool, but not before he had hit his head on the wall as he fell.

With reflexes that only came from being an older brother to four younger brothers, Scott dove quickly into the water. He reached Alan in a matter of seconds and yanked his head above the water. He started to swim with Alan to the side. He felt some of the weight being lifted and he turned his head to see that at some point John had jumped into the pool and was helping him to carry Alan.

"Scott, John" said Virgil, "over here." Scott swam to where Virgil and Gordon where kneeling, waiting to pull Alan up. As he swam with his brother over to the side, he prayed that he would be okay.

Between them both, Scott and John were able to pick Alan up out of the water and into Virgil's and Gordon's waiting arms. After he had past him over, Scott heaved himself out of the pool. As he watched Virgil place his head next to Alan's chest, Scott felt his panic rising within him. He loved all his brothers equally of course, but when it came to Alan, his relationship with him was more than just brothers. When their mother had died, Jeff had been so distraught that he had started spending more and more time at the office, which left Scott to raise his younger brothers, in particular Alan. So, when a year later, his father took over his duties again, Scott was unable to go back to being just a brother to Alan.

"He's breathing" said Virgil pulling Scott out of his thoughts, "I think you got him out in time. He hit his head pretty hard. I think we should take him to the infirmary to monitor him." He looked towards the door as Gordon came rushing in with a bed for Alan to lie on. As Scott bent to pick up Alan's feet he saw his father move to pick up his head. 'Huh, when did dad get here?' thought Scott as he watched Virgil move to secure Alan's head, just in case. After Alan was secured, they made their way to the infirmary.

**Chapter three.**

Alan woke up to the sound of machines beeping. 'Why am I in a hospital?" thought Alan. He searched his memory but couldn't find any explanation as to why he would be here.

"Sprout you awake?" said a soft voice next to him. Alan considered opening his eyes, but he felt too tired, so he went back to sleep.

The next time he awoke, he heard a group of voices quietly whispering. Unsure of where he was Alan kept his eyes closed as he tried to listen to the voices. He didn't recognise any of them. He tried to think back to his last memory. Sitting up quickly he gasped loudly, he remembered now. Thunderbird five had crashed into the atmosphere, all his family was dead, and he was trapped on the island with a madman.

"Slow down sprout, you took quite a hard knock to the head." Said Virgil as he walked towards him."

"Who are you?" asked Alan as he glanced at his "brother" by the side of him.

"It's me Virgil." He said with a small look of confusion on his face, as if he was unsure whether Alan was pulling his leg or not.

"You're not my brother, all my brothers died with my father on Thunderbird five. This is just some trick the Hood is using." Said Alan angrily. He looked around the group as everyone was too shocked to speak or move.

"Virgil, how hard did you say that he hit his head?" asked a voice.

"Will?" asked Alan in surprise, "what are you doing here?"

"I told you this morning Alan that Will was coming for a visit." Said Jeff.

"No you didn't, I didn't see you this morning. Stop trying to confuse me." Shouted Alan as he buried his face in his hands.

He heard the voices moving away, and looking around he saw that he was alone. Everyone had walked over to the corner of the room. Noticing that the bathroom door was open, Alan moved slowly towards it.

**Scott's pov. (Two hours earlier).**

Scott really hated it when one of his brothers was in the infirmary. Usually it was because of a rescue that had gone wrong, but occasionally it was because of an accident that had happened on the island. As he sat next to Alan's bed he couldn't help but feel like this was his fault. He should have noticed how tired he was or the fact that something was bothering him. This was now twice that he had let his brother down and he'd be damned if he let it happen a third time.

"It's not your fault you know." Said a voice behind him.

"Will, when did you get here?" asked Scott in surprise.

"I just flew in now." said Will as he walked towards Alan's bed. He stopped briefly next to Scott and squeezed his shoulder, before he picked up the chart hanging off the end of the bed. The room was silent as he read through the notes that Virgil had made.

"Looks like he hit his head hard, we'll have to wait for him to wake up to properly assess his condition." Said Will as he pulled up a seat and sat down, facing Scott.

"What?" said Scott after a few minutes of silence. "You're going to give me a complex if you keep staring at me like that."

"It's not your fault about Alan, he just slipped. It was an accident." Said Will.

"I should have realised how tired he was. Virgil said that he should be awake by now, unless he was exhausted and he needs the sleep." Said Scott angry at himself.

"You got him out of the pool literally seconds after he fell in. You probably saved his life." Said Will.

"His life shouldn't need to be kept being saved; he should be able to have a normal childhood." Said Scott as he slowly brushed Alan's hair away from his forehead.

"Everybody needs a hero." Said Will solemnly as he got up and walked away.

**Chapter four.**

"Has Alan been having any nightmares recently?" asked Will as he glanced around at the small group gathered around him.

"He hasn't said anything" answered Jeff. "Why, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that Alan has a major concussion, which in turn is causing his nightmares to represent themselves as his memories. That's why he thinks that you are all dead." Said Will rubbing a weary hand across his face.

"Because that's what his nightmares are about." Said Scott looking upset.

Jeff was just about to speak when a loud crash drew their attention back into the infirmary room.

"Where's Alan gone?" cried Scott as they rushed back towards the now empty bed, a tray of medical equipment on the floor, which at least explained the crash that they had heard.

"The bathroom." Said John just as the door slammed shut and locked.

They all got to the door just as the sound of breaking glass could be heard from inside the bathroom.

"He's going out the window!" said Gordon in surprise.

"Stand back." Shouted Scott. He waited until the door was clear and then he ran at it. The wood groaned but it didn't break. Scott growled in frustration.

"Together." Said John, and both older brothers ran at the door together. The door broke off its hinges and crashed loudly to the floor.

**Chapter five.**

Scott was first into the bathroom and what he saw nearly made his heart stop. Alan was sitting on the window still, broken glass all on the floor around his bare feet. His hand was bloody from where he had rested it on the broken pane of glass still attached to the window. But what scared Scott the most was the fact that Alan was holding a razor blade in his hand, and he was pointing it at them. To shocked to even move, Scott was grateful when his father moved past him to address Alan.

"Alan. Son, put the blade down and let's talk about this. It's us." Said Jeff, his hands out in front of him in a placating gesture.

"No! My family is dead. The Hood killed them" shouted Alan. "I'm all alone." He said in a whisper so that Scott almost missed it.

"Alan, do you remember when you were ten years old and you decide that you were old enough to start flying the 'birds. You climbed up into Thunderbird one's cockpit and fired her up. Except you forgot to engage the internal dampeners and you fried the circuits. Smoke entered the cockpit and you couldn't see or breathe. I managed to get you out and I ended up telling dad it was me, to keep you out of trouble." Said Scott as he moved forward slowly.

"Yeah, I remember." Said Alan calmly.

"Well the Hood wouldn't know that memory, would he? Only the real Scott would know that." He saw Alan frown slightly at this, so he decided to push on. "Do you remember what I whispered to you as I pulled you out?"

"You told me that you would always be there to save me, cos that's what big brothers are for." Said Alan, tears forming in his eyes.

"I would never back out of that deal. I will always be here to save you, so please put the blade down and come back inside." Scott pleaded. He watched silently as Alan struggled to believe his words. After a minute he threw the blade to the floor and swung his leg back through the window. Scott and Jeff moved forward to help him down, while John bent down and picked up the blade. Scott pulled Alan into a firm embrace, and he whispered so that only Alan could here, "I love you kiddo."

**Epilogue.**

Alan woke to the familiar beeping of the infirmary's machines, and he sighed quietly to himself. It seemed that every time he was on a break from school that he would always end up here for some reasons.

"There's no use trying to pretend that you're asleep," said a voice next to him. "I can tell that you're awake."

Alan opened his eyes slowly and he turned his head to the side, to see Scott staring at him.

"Man kiddo, you sure know how to give a guy a heart attack" said Scott as he ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sure you just took ten years off my life."

"What happened?" asked Alan as he pushed himself up into a seating position.

"You don't remember?" asked Scott with a slight frown.

"I remember playing volleyball with you and the guys." Said Alan after a moment's pause.

"Well you slipped in the pool and hit your head; me and John managed to get you out. But when you woke up, you thought that we were dead and the Hood was messing with your mind," Scott paused for a second. "Alan do you have nightmares about the Hood?" After a minute's silence in which Alan had yet to say anything, Scott continued. "Cos I know I do."

"You do?" said Alan in surprise.

"Yep, I have dreams where I couldn't save anybody, and the Hood managed to kill you."

"How do you manage?" asked Alan in a timid voice.

"I remember that the Hood lost and we won. That the bond we have between us all is something that I will fight for everyday until my last breath to protect. Come to me next time Allie, and we'll talk through it. You're not alone in this, we can all help." Said Scott standing up. Reaching over he gave Alan a swift hug, just as he heard the infirmary doors open.

"Well Sprout, how are you feeling?" asked Virgil.

"Like the mole just sat on my head." Joked Alan.

"Well if you will use your head as a ball, what do you expect." laughed Will.

"What we really need to address here, is the fact that Alan, who had a concussion, tried to escape by climbing out the bathroom window." Said Gordon disbelievingly.

At the sound of his family's laughter, Alan knew that everything was going to be alright.


End file.
